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The Orioles have agreed to terms on a deal with 24-year-old Cuban outfield prospect Dariel Alvarez for $800K, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Because Alvarez is older than 23 and has more than three years of professional experience, he is not subject to the new international signing guidelines laid out in the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement. Alvarez is in Miami and waiting on the results of his physical, which will make the deal official.

Alvarez defected from the Cuban National Team in January and was cleared to sign with MLB teams a month later, though a change in agents held up his journey to MLB. Alvarez tells Sanchez that he is "very happy to get [his] career going" and will report to whatever level the Orioles see fit. The Cardinals were said to be keeping tabs on Alvarez over the winter, and there were also some conflicting reports as to whether or not the Twins were in the mix.

Over the winter, Sanchez reported that 6'2", 190-pound Alvarez is capable of playing all three outfield positions and possesses a strong throwing arm. The bonus he received is a fraction of the sum that the A's and Dodgers gave Yoenis Cespedes and Yasiel Puig on their multi-year contracts.

It's reassuring to see the team make this kind of investment. With our farm system so empty he could be used as trade bait next season if we need an important piece. That's a luxury we didn't have this year.

One more of these and, according to traditional journalism rules, we can declare a trend. Duquette seems to see value in signing slightly older international prospects, guys with a lower ceiling but who are closer to the majors than those that demand the most attention. Being exceptions to the international salary cap probably doesn't hurt either.

A_K wrote:One more of these and, according to traditional journalism rules, we can declare a trend. Duquette seems to see value in signing slightly older international prospects, guys with a lower ceiling but who are closer to the majors than those that demand the most attention. Being exceptions to the international salary cap probably doesn't hurt either.

It's almost a necessity that he do this. The majority of the project-able draft picks in June were HS kids so the more advanced players that might actually play in the ML in the next season or two have to come from somewhere.

Yeah. I like the approach of signing non-international cap players after trading international cap space as an asset-maximization strategy, presuming of course the decision to do so was made holistically, rather than as a series of knee-jerk decisions.

A_K wrote:Yeah. I like the approach of signing non-international cap players after trading international cap space as an asset-maximization strategy, presuming of course the decision to do so was made holistically, rather than as a series of knee-jerk decisions.

I agree, but I'd also like to see them use ALL of their remaining cap money to fill their two DSL teams with legit talent. Winners are built from the bottom up.

A_K wrote:Yup. In fairness, it's always easy to advocate spending other people's money, but in general I agree that the Orioles need to exhaust themselves looking to upgrade internationally.

IMO it's a matter of smart economics. We signed the Kevin Greggs, Garret Atkins, Michael Gonzales, Danys Baezs, Jamie Walkers, Chad Bradfords, Derrick Lees, and Vladimir Guerreros because we didn't have ML players in our farm system to promote or trade for ML talent. Add up all of that wasted money and then think about how many over-slot deals we could have given to draft picks over the last five years. Or international talent that we could have signed.

I'm still trying to pick my jaw up off of the table from when I heard that the PRE TARGET FIELDS MINNESOTA EFFING TWINS out bid us for Miguel Sano four years ago. I couldn't believe the team wouldn't invest a little more than 3M for a serious talent. In effect, an additional first round draft pick that only cost money. Do you have any doubts that the Cubs would have seriously considered making him the center piece of a trade package for Jeff Samardzija. THERE'S a SP that could really help us this year and that we would have for several more seasons.

The O's International scouting staff has obviously built some fruitful relationships over the past couple of years. This is another sorta "under-the-radar" signing of a very promising International player. The limited scouting reports I have read on Alvarez indicates that he is not major league ready right now--probably could use at the very least a full season in the minors and likely more. His "upside potential" is very good. Most likely an everyday corner outfielder with a solid bat. The O's signed him for basically the same amount given to Henry Urruttia. Alvarez could be a very useful piece for the O's moving forward. I say KUDOS to the O's and in particular our revitalized International staff.

Dons0's wrote:I think he starts out at Bowie right away. I know we will see Urrutia this season.

First, there aren't many of them; and, second, most of the ones that are available are looking for 30M - 40M - 50M contracts. Some teams can afford that kind of gamble. With the budget that Angelos has given this team it could come down to taking that risk OR extending Chris Davis.